664 
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BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES 
Fishing gear credited to this district was operated by the Northwestern Fisheries 
Co., as a part of its Karluk equipment. A division was made whereby the Red 
River fishery is credited with about half of the gear used by this company, but no 
gear of the Alaska Packers Association was allocated to this district, although the 
association fished here a few seasons. Neither company reported separately the gear 
used at Red River. 
KARLUK RIVER DISTRICT 
This district embraces a small section of the west coast of Kodiak Island in 
which the seining grounds at the mouth of Karluk River and those adjacent at 
Slide, Waterfall, and Tanglefoot, constitute one of the most compact fishing areas 
in all Alaska. Karluk River, a fine clear-water stream, is the outlet of Karluk Lake 
and the streams of its drainage basin, and is approximately 30 miles in length. It 
empties into a lagoon or estuary formed by the action of surf and tide which have 
thrown a high sand and gravel spit across the mouth of the river. This lagoon is 
about 3 miles long, and in the early days was the preferred seining ground, as operations 
could be carried on there without interruption by storms and heavy surf. 
Although other species are taken in the fishery the remarkable red-salmon runs 
are of predominant importance. Both the river and the lake are relatively small, yet 
the abundance of red salmon is so great as to indicate that conditions are particularly 
favorable for this species. No other stream of similar size is known to produce such 
large runs, and there are only a few larger streams, such as the Fraser and the Kvichak 
Rivers, that have been more productive. Occasionally large runs of pinks have 
appeared and the three other species are taken in significant though much smaller 
numbers. 
In the eighteenth century, Russian explorers discovered and reported great runs 
of salmon at Karluk, and the Indians, of course, knew of them long before the Russians 
came. It is a matter of record that 300,000 red salmon were prepared as “yukola” 
(dried without salting or smoking) in several seasons more than a century ago. 8 Yet 
no commercial use seems to have been made of the Karluk salmon until after Alaska 
was purchased by the United States in 1867. The first cannery was built on Karluk 
Spit in 1882, and for six seasons this one plant operated without competition. The 
catches increased from 58,800 in 1882 to 1,004,500 in 1887, each intervening year 
showing a material gain over the preceding. It seems very probable that every 
salmon captured in these six years was taken in Karluk Lagoon, as fishing on the 
outside beaches was not engaged in until the competition incident to the establish- 
ment of more canneries forced such action. 
In 1888, the number of canneries increased to 4, of which 3 were located at 
Karluk and 1 at Larsen Bay, and the catch amounted to approximately 2,781,000. 
In the next year, 2 additional canneries were opened and the combined catch of the 
6 plants was 3,412,000, no part of which is presumed to have been made elsewhere 
than at Karluk River. In 1890, the catch was 3,149,000, without change in the num- 
ber of canneries. The catch in 1891 was 3,500,000, with 6 canneries still in operation. 
From 1892 to 1895, a period of four years, the number of canneries varied from 3 to 
5, and the catch varie.d from 2,056,000 in 1S95 to 3,350,000 in 1894. In all these 
years no record was made of the number of salmon caught, but the catch has been 
computed from the reported pack in each year at the rate of 14 fish per case. 
9 Sketches from History of American Orthodox Ecclesiastical Mission, Kodiak Mission, 1837-1894. Published by Monastery 
of Valaam, St. Petersburg, 1894. Translation by N. Gray, Kodiak, Alaska, 1925. 
